An electrical outlet supplies electrical power through a power cord to an electrically operated hospital bed to enable vertical or other movement of the bed. A typical hospital room also provides an overhead reading light, mounted to the head wall, the wall located behind the head portion of the bed. When intravenous (IV) rods or fracture frames are mounted to extend above the bed in such a manner as to move vertically with the bed, raising of the bed can cause the rod or frame to contact and damage the overhead light.
The IV pole could be moved to the side of the bed, away from under the light. However, it is preferably mounted to the head portion of the bed to be out of the way of nurses in their performance of regular procedures, and out of the way of the patient.
It is known to employ a safety control system to disconnect power to the bed upon contact between an IV pole and the head wall mounted safety light. Such a safety control system employs a safety light fixture which is equipped with a safety switch. The safety switch is in hard wire electrical communication with the outlet supplying power to the bed, and is adapted to open upon detecting contact of the safety light, thereby interrupting electrical power to and vertical movement of the bed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,540 in the name of Burst et al., incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses a safety light which may be used for the above described safety control system. The light has some vertical play, to prevent fracture upon initial contact.
Most modern hospitals are equipped with a modular head wall unit located behind the bed. The safety light is mounted to or above the upper portion of the head wall unit. The hard wire connection between the safety light and the bed outlet can be easily routed through a modular head wall unit of this type.
In hospital rooms which do not have the modular head wall unit, in order to install a safety control system of the type described, a conduit carrying the connecting wires must be buried in the head wall between the safety light and the outlet. The cost of routing and burying the conduit between the above mounted safety light and the outlet below is considered excessive, generally requiring the services of an outside contractor to perform the installation work. Moreover, burying of the conduit in the head wall necessitates refinishing of the head wall after work has been completed, thus representing an additional expense associated with down time for the hospital room.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a safety control system for interrupting electrical power to a hospital bed which alleviates the need to route a head wall buried conduit between the safety light and the outlet.
It is another object of this invention to provide a safety control system which is easily installed, regardless of whether or not the hospital room is equipped with a modular head wall unit.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a safety control system which can be installed without incurring significant downtime for the hospital room.